PASTORAL CARE AND THOSE THINGS WHICH MUST PRECEDE
THE CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE

Can. 1063 Pastors of souls are obliged to take
care that their ecclesiastical community offers the Christian faithful the
assistance by which the matrimonial state is preserved in a Christian spirit
and advances in perfection. This assistance must be offered especially by:

1/ preaching, catechesis adapted to minors, youth,
and adults, and even the use of instruments of social communication, by which
the Christian faithful are instructed about the meaning of Christian marriage
and about the function of Christian spouses and parents;

2/ personal preparation to enter marriage, which
disposes the spouses to the holiness and duties of their new state;

3/ a fruitful liturgical celebration of marriage
which is to show that the spouses signify and share in the mystery of the unity
and fruitful love between Christ and the Church;

4/ help offered to those who are married, so that
faithfully preserving and protecting the conjugal covenant, they daily come to
lead holier and fuller lives in their family.

Can. 1064 It is for the local ordinary to take
care that such assistance is organized fit-tingly, after he has also heard men
and women proven by experience and expertise if it seems opportune.

Can. 1065 §1. Catholics who have not yet received
the sacrament of confirmation are to receive it before they are admitted to
marriage if it can be done without grave inconvenience.

§2. To receive the sacrament of marriage fruitfully,
spouses are urged especially to approach the sacraments of penance and of the
Most Holy Eucharist.

Can. 1066 Before a marriage is celebrated, it must
be evident that nothing stands in the way of its valid and licit celebration.

Can. 1067 The conference of bishops is to
establish norms about the examination of spouses and about the marriage banns
or other opportune means to accomplish the investigations necessary before
marriage. After these norms have been diligently observed, the pastor can
proceed to assist at the marriage.

Can. 1068 In danger of death and if other proofs
cannot be obtained, the aYrmation of the contracting parties, even sworn if the
case warrants it, that they are baptized and are prevented by no impediment is
sufficient unless there are indications to the contrary.

Can. 1069 All the faithful are obliged to reveal
any impediments they know about to the pastor or local ordinary before the
celebration of the marriage.

Can. 1070 If someone other than the pastor who is
to assist at marriage has conducted the investigations, the person is to notify
the pastor about the results as soon as possible through an authentic document.

Can. 1071 §1. Except in a case of necessity, a
person is not to assist without the permission of the local ordinary at:

1/ a marriage of transients;

2/ a marriage which cannot be recognized or
celebrated according to the norm of civil law;

3/ a marriage of a person who is bound by natural
obligations toward another party or children arising from a previous union;

4/ a marriage of a person who has notoriously
rejected the Catholic faith;

5/ a marriage of a person who is under a censure;

6/ a marriage of a minor child when the parents are
unaware or reasonably opposed;

7/ a marriage to be entered into through a proxy as
mentioned in ⇒ can. 1105.

§2. The local ordinary is not to grant permission to
assist at the marriage of a person who has notoriously rejected the Catholic
faith unless the norms mentioned in ⇒ can. 1125 have
been observed with necessary adaptation.

Can. 1072 Pastors of souls are to take care to dissuade
youth from the celebration of marriage before the age at which a person usually
enters marriage according to the accepted practices of the region.